Quartz working



Feb. 5 1924.

1,482,455 E. R. BERRY QUARTZ WORKING Filed Sept. 20,' 1922 Ffg: A

invenizan Edward R Ber-r 2 2;

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Application filed September 20, 1922. Serial No. 589,471.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD R. BERRY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Maiden, in the county ofMiddlesex, State of 5 Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Quartz Working, of which the following is aspecification. I

The present invention relates to produc- 10 tion of. tubes from fusedquartz.

It is the object of my invention to provide a method and apparatus ofshaping silica while in a plastic state into hollow shapes such astubes. My apparatusis ca- .16 pable of automatic or substantiallyautomatic operation, and whereby it is possible to produce articles ofdesired size from clear and substantially bubble-free material.

Full utilization of the valuable properties so of silica glass inthetechnical arts has been retarded by the arduousness of the manu-.

facturing o erations and because of the hi h degree of 5 ill required incarrying out t e manufacture of articles of regular shapes.

as This is especially true of the production of clear quartz glasstubes.

By the ordinary method of making tubing, particularly sizes of one inchor above, by hand,.or by blowing, the walls will be so wavy ornonuniform in thickness making it imdesirable for light transmission,but by the method described herein the walls readily can be made ofuniform-thickness. Furtermore it is possible to make perfect shapes asvarying in diameter from one end to the other, such, for instance as thefrustrum of 'a cone.

In accordance with my present invention,

tubes of clear silica are made from cane roduced in a state of almostcomplete free om from bubbles or cavities. As set forth with greaterarticularity in the appended claims, hollow odies, such as tubes or thelike, are made in accordance with my invention by coiling strip or canesilica while in a plastic state, preferably into the form of a closedhelix and subjecting the wall of the same while plastic to pressure tocause coalescence of adjacent turns.

The accompanying drawin shows in Fig. 1 a somewhat conventionallzedelevation; and in Fig. 2 a side view of an apparatus for carrying out myinvention. i

The drawing shows a strip or cane 1 of quartz glass passing through aheating zone, as for example, a tubular electric resistance heater 2,for heating the quartz glass to the softening temperature. The stripthen is wound upon a form or mandrel 3 consisting of carbon, or othersuitable refractory material mounted on a shaft 4, which is rotated by asuitable'means, such as a belt 5. In the drawing the mandrel is shown ashaving a uniform diameter but, of course, other shapes capable of beingwithdrawn from the finished article may be used. Mounted on the sameframe 6 with the shaft 4 is a lead screw 7 conveniently driven by a.belt 8 from the shaft 4 and acting to feed forward the mandrel 3 by afinger 14. The shaft 1 may be electrically heated, as indicated by theelectric supply conductor 9, 10, although this heating is not essentialin all cases. Preferably, however, a flame from a blow pipe 11 playsupon the quartz glass strip as it is coiled upon the mandrel to keep theglass plastic. Coalescence of the coils of quartz glass are produced bya roller 12, which is mounted on a support 13, and bears against theplastic quartz helix.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is':-

1. The method of producing hollow artior Marmara, nassncsn'r'rs,ASSIGNOB. ro canal. ELECTRIC a CORPOTION or NEW roan.

else of quartz glass which consists in winding cane or strip quartzwhile plastic upon a mandrel so that the adjacent coils are in closeproximity and subjecting said coils while plastic to pressure upon saidmandrel to produce a tube of substantially uniform thickness.

2. The method of shaping quartz which consists in winding quartz cane orstrip to form a hollow body of desired configuration, the walls of whichconsist of turns of said cane closely adjacent to each other, andsubjecting said walls of the body to heat and pressure to causecoalescence and equalization of thickness of said walls.

3. The method of producing quartz tubing which consists in coiling stripquartz While in a plastic state into the form of a closed helix whileprogressively subjecting the coils of said helix while plastic to"pressure to cause coalescence thereof.

4. The. method of producing tubes of amorphous quartz from quartz caneor strip of materially smaller diameter than the desired diameter oftubing which consists in coiling said cane or strip into tubular form,

subjecting said coiled strip locally to heat and pressure appliedparallel to the axis of said tube'and at an angle to said strip to causecoalescence of said strips and equalization of thickness and advancingthe region of heat and pressure application by a spiral path over thesurface of said tube.

5. A quartz working apparatus comprising the combination of a rotatablemandrel, means for delivering .to said mandrel strip or cane of quartzin a plastic state and means for ekternally applying pressure to coilsof quartz wound upon said mandrel.

6.'A quartz workin apparatus comprising the combination 0 a rotatableform or mandrel, means for delivering thereto a strip of plastic quartz,means for rotating said mandrel while feeding the same longitudinally,means for a plying heat to quartz strip coiled upon said mandrel andmeans for applying pressure externally upon the lcoils of said strip tocause coalescence thereof.

v In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 18th day ofSeptember, 1922.

EDWARD R. BERRY.

